For generic drug companies, the biggest and most expensive challenge to a US product launch is the patent that covers the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (“API”). Notoriously, only one such patent has ever been invalidated for obviousness. On Thursday, April 14, 2016, from 9:00 AM – 10:00 …
By Kurt R. Karst – Ever since FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert M. Califf's February 2016 call for a sweeping review of FDA policies concerning opioids (in response to growing pressure from Congress), the Agency has been on a tear to meet that call with new policies and requirements. There's the recent announcement …
By Kurt R. Karst – Earlier this week, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (Judge Rudolph Contreras) issued a 33-page Memorandum Opinion in a case stemming from a Complaint filed in June 2015 by Ferring Pharmaceuticals Inc. (“Ferring”) against FDA challenging the Agency’s …
By Kurt R. Karst – The ongoing controversy over drug pricing has raised debate on many aspects of drug approval, and, in particular, on the approval of generic drugs. Over the past several months, there have been numerous letters from Members of Congress to FDA – …
By Kurt R. Karst – Earlier this week at the Generic Pharmaceutical Association’s (“GPhA”) annual meeting in Orlando, Florida, Dr. Kathleen (“Cook”) Uhl, Director of the Office of Generic Drugs (“OGD”), gave the keynote address, providing the generic drug industry with a much-anticipated lowdown on FDA’s …
By Kurt R. Karst – Question: When was the first time FDA approved an ANDA containing a Paragraph IV certification to a patent listed in the Orange Book for DIPRIVAN (propofol) Injection, 10 mg/mL, approved under NDA 019627, and granted a period of 180-day exclusivity? Buehler, Buehler? If …
By Kurt R. Karst – We love precedents – particularly unusual precedents that are wrapped up in drug approval histories. A couple of years ago we learned about a new precedent concerning the “date of approval” of a drug product. That term is defined in an …
By Kurt R. Karst – The ink from President Obama’s signature on Public Law No. 114-89, the “Improving Regulatory Transparency for New Medical Therapies Act” (or “IRTNMTA”), was hardly dry when the company that led the charge to change the law, Eisai Inc. (“Eisai”), asked the …
By Kurt R. Karst – Those folks who have been following this blog for several years have a good sense about the depths of this blogger’s passion for the Orange Book. There’s the license plate (“ORNGBUK”), the trip to the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro with the …
By Kurt R. Karst – Whether in the context of asserting First Amendment protection for a pharmaceutical manufacturer’s off-label promotion of an otherwise approved drug (see our previous post here), or challenging FDA’s denial of New Chemical Entity (“NCE”) exclusivity for VASCEPA (icosapent ethyl) Capsules (NDA …
By Kurt R. Karst – Last week, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced the issuance of the Bureau of Competition’s annual summary of agreements filed with the Commission during the last fiscal year (Fiscal Year 2014) – Agreements Filed with the Federal Trade Commission under the Medicare …
By Kurt R. Karst – A few months have passed since the appeals Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. (“Takeda”) and Elliott Associates, L.P., Elliott International, L.P. and Knollwood Investments, L.P. (collectively “Elliott”) filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit after …
By Kurt R. Karst – Congress has been busy in the lead-up to the holiday! In addition to the recently-enacted 2016 Consolidated Appropriations Act, which saddles FDA will meeting myriad requests and new requirements, a host of lawmakers from the U.S. House or Representatives recently sent …
The American Conference Institute’s (“ACI”) popular FDA Boot Camp, now in its 27th iteration, is slated to take place at The Carlton Hotel in New York, New York from March 9-11, 2016. The conference is billed as the premier event to provide folks with a …
By Kurt R. Karst – Here’s something you don’t often see: FDA initiating procedures to suspend the approval of an ANDA because of an Agency determination that the Reference Listed Drug (“RLD”) was withdrawn for what the Agency determined were safety or effectiveness reasons. But on …
